Book Review: Me, Myselfie & I: A Cautionary Tale by Jamie Lee Curtis

Title: Me, Myselfie & I: A Cautionary Tale

Author: Jamie Lee Curtis

Illustrator: Laura Cornell

Publisher: Feiwel and Friends

Year: 2018

Ages: 4 – 8

An old-fashioned mom receives a smartphone as a birthday gift from her family. She is excited about her new gadget. Maybe, she is way too excited. She takes selfies everywhere. She takes selfies with the dog. She takes selfies while grocery shopping. She takes selfies while her daughter does her homework. She becomes “selfie crazy.” Furthermore, the mom changes her look to up her selfie game. Will she realize that she is becoming someone else to the detriment of her family?

Written Jamie Lee Curtis (yes, the actor, activist, and writer), Me Myselfie and I: A CautionaryTale is a children’s book with a valuable moral lesson for families of our day and age. Social media and things like selfies are taking over our lives. Mothers, fathers, and children are even stopping being themselves to compete on social media. The mom in the story used to be old-fashioned. Her hair was natural, she liked handmade things, and she used to be present. All of that changed when she became obsessed with selfies. She changed her appearance. She took selfies everywhere and with everything. She became fake. As the title indicates, this story is a cautionary tale about the overuse of social media and its consequences in our lives, particularly our family lives.

Laura Cornell’s illustrations pop-up with vivacious colors and give a funny streak to a serious subject. More than that, the family portrayed in the book is a blended one, making the book relatable to millions of families that usually do not find children’s books with families that look like theirs.